LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

The California Retail Food Code provides for the regulation of health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities, including mobile food facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Public Health. Under existing law, local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing this code. A violation of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor.

This bill would prohibit a mobile food facility from selling or otherwise providing food or beverages within 1,500 500 feet of any the property line of an
a public elementary or secondary school campus, except as specified. It would also require the enforcing agency to notify each individual or entity that seeks approval of a mobile food facility of this requirement. By imposing additional duties upon local officials and creating a new crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, with regard to certain mandates, no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would
provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) All students deserve a school environment that promotes and protects good health.

(b) A school environment that fosters good health through sound nutrition is critical to overall student wellness and academic achievement.

(c) Past and ongoing efforts to create a healthier school environment for California’s students are undermined by off-campus mobile food vending, which competes with the provision of healthful meals and snacks through the federally funded
school nutrition programs.

(d) Mobile food vending diminishes participation in the school nutrition programs, reinforces the stigma associated with eating school meals, and jeopardizes the fiscal viability of school nutrition programs at the local level.

(e) Well-nourished students, such as those who participate in school meal programs, demonstrate better cognitive performance, classroom behavior, and social interaction, as well as improved academic achievement.

(f) Research shows meals served at school are often more nutritious than meals brought from home or served elsewhere. Students who participate in the School Breakfast Program consume more milk, more fruit, and less added sugar than their peers who do not
eat a school breakfast. Students who participate in the National School Lunch Program consume more milk and more nutrient-dense lunches than their nonparticipating peers. Low-income students who participate in school lunch also eat more fruit than their nonparticipating peers.

(g) Mobile food vending increases students’ access to foods and beverages that are calorie rich, nutrient poor, and contribute to negative health outcomes like being overweight and obesity.

(h) Mobile food vending near school campuses provides an incentive for students to leave school grounds, which decreases adult supervision of students during school hours and increases students’ exposure to off-campus safety hazards.

(i) Mobile food vending near
school campuses often results in crowded, impassable sidewalks and traffic congestion near school grounds, that infringes upon student safety.

(k) To help ensure student safety, promote good nutrition, and create healthier school environments, areas surrounding school campuses should be free of mobile food vending.

SEC. 2.

Section 114294.1 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

114294.1.

(a) A Except as provided in subdivision (b), a mobile food facility may shall not sell or otherwise provide food or beverages within 1,500 500 feet of the property line of an
a public elementary or secondary school campus, from the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., inclusive, on a day weekday that school is in session.

(b) The prohibition of this section shall not apply to any of the following:

(1) A mobile food facility operating on nonresidential, private, real property with the express consent of the owner or lessee of the real property.

(2) A mobile food facility operating adjacent to a permitted construction site and vending to a person who is at least 18 years of age.

(3) A mobile food facility operating to exclusively serve a film production, as defined in Section 14999.31 of the Government Code.

(4) A mobile food facility operating under a formal agreement with a school district pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 49400) of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code.

(c) This section shall not be construed to limit or otherwise prohibit the enforcement of a local ordinance adopted prior to January 1, 2013, by a city, county, city and county, or district, including a school district, that regulates the location of operations by a mobile food facility, regardless of whether the local restriction is more or less restrictive than subdivision (a). This section also shall not be construed to limit or otherwise prohibit the adoption and enforcement of a local ordinance adopted on or after January 1, 2013, that is more restrictive of the location of operations by a mobile food facility than subdivision (a).

(b)

(d) The enforcement agency shall, in the course of approving mobile food facilities pursuant to Section 114294, provide notification of the restriction described in this section to each individual or entity that seeks approval of a mobile food facility.

SEC. 3.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs
mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.